The Rogue's Proposal Read Free Page B

all.
    “Yes,” he said. “We’re agreed.”
    Her muscles suddenly went limp, and she had to battle to keep from sagging to the
     floor. Only now did she realize how worried she’d been that he’d deny her.
    Thank you. Thank you. We’ll find him. We’ll find Papa’s money …and maybe, just maybe, she could save her family.
    Slowly, the strength returned to her limbs. She gazed steadily at Luke. “There’s just
     one thing, my lord.”
    He cocked a brow. “What’s that, Emma?”
    She swallowed against her suddenly dry mouth. She’d never spoken so freely to a gentleman
     before, not even to Henry. But certain things needed to be said.
    “If you want my help, I cannot…” She took a deep breath and continued. “I cannot engage
     in relations—of any kind—with you.”
    His brow remained firmly nocked upward. “Why not?”
    “I’m not the kind of woman who…bestows her favors easily.”
    He leveled his gaze at her. “You came up here with me. That is evidence contrary to
     your words. How do you think following me up to my room should be interpreted? By
     me, and by the people in that tavern downstairs?”
    The obvious interpretation of her actions was that she was a loose woman. That she
     fully intended to offer him any and every favor he chose to ask of her.
    It was stupid to have come up here…yet perhaps not so stupid. She didn’t care what
     anyone thought about her anymore. She had nothing to prove to anyone. He hadn’t hurt
     her—something inside her had told her he wasn’t a danger, at least not in the most
     overt sense of the word. She’d been determined to get him to agree to her plan, no
     matter what it took. And speaking privately with him had seemed like it would offer
     her an advantage that speaking with him in the noisy tavern wouldn’t.
    And a part of her, a tiny portion of her mind, had wondered what it would be like
     to throw away every sense of propriety and responsibility, go upstairs with a man
     she didn’t know, and lose herself to the sensual pleasures that his heated gaze had
     promised her from across that undersized table.
    She spoke carefully. “I don’t care what everyone thought, my lord. But I want you
     to know that wasn’t my intention. I wished to offer you a business proposition. Truly,
     I cannot help the fact that I am a woman.”
    His gaze raked her body up and down, leaving trembling gooseflesh in its wake. She
     was glad her half-mourning dress covered so much of her skin and that he couldn’t
     see how his gaze affected her.
    “No,” he murmured. “You certainly can’t help the fact that you’re a beautiful woman.”
    She swallowed hard. “This is a business proposition. Nothing more. You and I are searching
     for the same man, and we’re assisting each other in that endeavor.”
    “I don’t know,” he mused. “What if I require the need for female companionship during
     the term of this business partnership?”
    “Then I shall turn a blind eye,” she said automatically. Still, something in her chest
     clenched at the thought of him seeking out a woman.
    His eyes narrowed into slits. “Oh? What if I decide that female ought to be you?”
    “I imagine you’re capable of controlling yourself.”
    “Perhaps,” he said. “But what if you’re not?”
    She laughed, but something about it sounded high and false. “I’m entirely capable
     of controlling myself, too. Not that there shall be anything to control.”
    His lips twisted, and she didn’t blame his disbelief. She made a poor liar.
    “You want me, Emma.” He studied his fingernails as if something fascinating lurked
     in the nail beds. “Mark my words, it’s only a matter of time before you beg me to
     take you.”
    “Oh, I think not, my lord.”
    He looked back up at her, giving her a wicked smile as he dropped his hands to his
     sides. “We’ll see.”
    She took a breath, not answering. But her cheeks felt like they were ablaze. Please, she thought, don’t let him